imPortaNce oF 12th raBi-ul-aWal

EID-E-MILAD-UN-NABI is celebrated by the Muslims in East and West on 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal with great devotion and reverence.

Rabi-ul-Awal is the third month of Islamic Lunar Calendar which holds great importance and significance in the lives of Muslims. The month of Rabi-ul-Awwal comes after Safar-alMuzaffar and is the most significant month in the Islamic history.

The whole Muslim world knows the month of Rabiul-Awwal as the month of birth of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). This is the month of celebration for the entire Muslim world, as Allah SWT blessed the world with the birth of His best creation in Rabi-ul-Awwal.

In celebration of Rabi-ulAwwal, Muslims all over the world urged to get together and arrange Mehfil-e-Naat and Mehfil-e-Zikr for the whole week. The 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal is marked as the birth date of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, SallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, who is the last to be sent with the divine message for the guidance of humanity. Unlike the ways followers of other religions and faiths commemorate the births of their prophets, Muslims celebrate Eid-e-Milad un Nabi on 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal in which they gather to discuss the bounty and favor which Allah SWT has blessed the Muslims with by guiding them to the righteous path of Islam and the teachings of Holy Quran and Sunnah of the final messenger of Allah.

The month of Rabi-ulAwwal is not exceptional for being the month of birth of our beloved Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him ), but it is the month in which our Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began his journey of Hijrah and built the first Mosque of Islam, Masjid-e-Quba. Rabiul-Awwal is also significant, as the first Jummah prayer was established in this month.

The sacred day of 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal is especially important to the Muslim world, because on this day Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him ) was born, who led humanity from darkness to light and who is described by Allah as “a mercy to all the worlds –Rehmat-ullil-Alimeen”.

Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi is celebrated by the Muslims in East and West on 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal with great devotion and reverence. The occasion like 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal is meant to remind people of how the Prophet lived his life and to rejuvenate their Iman.

Nowadays, the celebrations of such religious occasion like 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal is extremely important to instil values, ethics and moral code in youth, practiced by the

Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him ). The occasion of 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal serves a great purpose in that it brings the people closer to the teachings of Islam and to the Holy Prophet’s way of life. The sacred month of Rabi-ulAwwal causes the Muslims to remember the blessings of Holy Prophet and to fill their hearts with the love of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him . It is the duty of every Muslim parent to tell the stories of Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him ) to their children on 12th Rabi-ul-Awwal that shed light on different aspects of his life.

The month of Rabi-ulAwwal marks the birth of Nabi Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, the last and final prophet of Allah Ta’ala. A personality whose struggles and sacrifices, against every odd, were aimed at liberating and freeing not just a people, nor a nation, but instead humanity at large. What we allude to here is the monumental struggle, spanning 23 years of this impressive life in liberating humankind from the yokes and fetters of the constraints and oppressions of life itself. It is only in this regard that we afford the final prophet of Islam the appellation of “The greatest Saviour & Benefactor of mankind”.

Allah Ta’ala aptly reminds us in the Qur’aanul Kareem of His magnanimous favour in sending Nabi Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam to mankind where He says:

“Indeed Allah had conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a messenger from amongst themselves” (Sura Ale Imraan, verse 164).

When Allah Ta’ala created this world with all its resources and adornments He did not cite this as a favour upon mankind and nor did He cite as a favour upon mankind when He created mankind as His masterpiece and endowed him with the various faculties of intelligence, sight, perception etc. However, Allah Ta’ala deemed appropriate to remind mankind of His favour when He deputed Nabi Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam to mankind.

The reason behind this was that mankind was now conferred with a favour that would transform and change his very being and return to him his nobility, dignity and honour in the sight of his creator. Thus this reminder.

This favour will only be realized and regarded as a favour when one views the advent of Nabi Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam using the prevalent conditions of the time as a backdrop.

The advent of Nabi Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam occurred at a time when mankind had plunged themselves into the very abysses and dungeons of depravation and degeneration. It is a hard-proven fact that this was the darkest era that had ever engulfed mankind and therefore it was rightfully tagged the “Days of Ignorance” or AyaamulJaahiliyaa. It was the mission of NabiSallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam to eradicate this darkness and usher mankind into the light of freedom and liberation. For 23 long and hard years this mission continued unabated. Its end result was that mankind was now free, liberated and most noteworthy became not just beacons of light, but light themselves. This fact is attested to in the Qur’aanul Kareem when Allah Ta’ala says:

“Allah was well pleased with them and they were well pleased with Him” (Suratul Bayyinah, verse 8)

It was only this struggle that brought about or gave birth to the glorious and golden era of Islam. An era that is well recorded in the annals of Islamic history as an era wherein mankind was nobly freed and liberated.

The sublime teachings of Nabi Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam unequivocally and glaringly spelt out:

• Freedom from oppression

• Freedom from superstition

• Freedom from atheism

• Freedom from paganism and idolatry

• Freedom from materialism

• Freedom from xenophobia and caste systems

• Freedom from exploitation and monopoly

• Freedom from animalism and barbarism.

Before concluding we ask ourselves, “Could there ever be a struggle more noble and laudable than one that taught mankind life and living according to the dictates of their creator?

Could there be another personality more lauded and celebrated than the one who changed and transformed the moral landscape of humankind?

It is only when the world views this struggle in its correct light and applies its teachings we would confidently say that mankind has attained true freedom and liberation!

May Allah Ta’ala grant the Ummah the Tawfiq of emulating His Nabi Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallamin totality and make us realize that true allegiance to His noble Prophet Sallallaahu Alayhi Wa Sallam is not just the commemoration of the day of his birth but a lifetime of practical commemoration of his great life. Aameen

Let every Muslim make it his duty to introduce this great personality to the world!